Amber Rudd, a former financial journalist and investment banker, has been appointed the UK’s Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change as Prime Minister David Cameron puts his final touches to his new cabinet on Monday. The Conservative MP believes drilling for shale gas will be good for the UK economy and jobs.

Ms Rudd was parliamentary under secretary at the Department of Energy and Climate Change prior to last week’s general election, at which the Conservative Party defied pollsters and pundits to gain a majority.

Energy Minister Amber Rudd used a visit to the region to claim fracking is a “positive thing” that could create skilled jobs for young people.

The Conservative MP believes communities can be convinced the controversial process of drilling for shale gas is beneficial to the economy and has the potential to create employment, provided the work can be done “extremely safely.”

The senior politician stopped short of saying where in the North East would be suitable for fracking when she opened a renewable energy plant at the Nestle factory in Newcastle’s Fawdon.

She said: “I think fracking is a positive thing to have in the UK, as long as we can do it extremely safely and reassure communities that that’s the case, and I think we can.

“I think it is also something that young people can get into, both in terms of developing the technology and in the wider area of supporting renewables.” …